ARUK 2021 | Neuropathology of patients with COVID-19

Markus Glatzel, MD, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany, discusses the current evidence for central nervous system (CNS) involvement in COVID-19. Clinical symptoms of COVID-19 include CNS manifestations. However, it is unclear whether severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the causative agent of COVID-19, gains access to the CNS and whether it causes neuropathological changes. Although experimental evidence regarding SARS-CoV-2 neuroinvasiveness is still lacking, post-mortem studies evidenced the virus’s presence in the brain. Additionally, massive encephalitis was not observed, and the neuropathological changes in patients with COVID-19 included pronounced neuroinflammatory changes triggered by the presence of the virus. This interview took place during the Alzheimer’s Research UK (ARUK) Conference 2021.